Taliaferro cancels runoff plans...

... handing the victory in the Raleigh City Council District B race to challenger Rodger Koopman, the News & Observer reports. Koopman advocates higher impact fees for new development and opposes special tax breaks for developers, and his election further solidifies smart-growth advocates' control over the council at a critical time, as the city is about to update its comprehensive plan.

As we reported previously based on an analysis by Below the Beltline, developer-friendly Taliaferro got at least 86 percent of her campaign contributions from real-estate interests, compared to just 2 percent for Koopman, who won 44 percent of the vote. Taliaferro came in second with 33 percent, while third place went to Angel Menendez, an anti-tax conservative who got 22 percent.

Here's the text of an e-mail Koopman sent to the Wake Progressives e-mail list this afternoon:

To: wake_progressives@yahoogroups.com
From: rodger@rodgerkoopman.com
Date: Thu, 11 Oct 2007 15:19:30 -0400
Subject: [wake_progressives] It's official - I won the City Council seat for District B

Dear Wake Progressives,

Thank you for your support. I also want to thank Jessie Taliaferro for having the integrity and courage to make one of the toughest phone calls an incumbent has to make, to call your opponent to concede.

This is a time to be gracious and magnanimous, and to honor Jessie's courage. I also want to thank her for her four years of service and hard work on the city council.

I look forward to serving you on the Raleigh City Council. We have a 5-3 progressive majority which means we can do many good things for the citizens of our great city.

Sincerely,
Rodger Koopman

Besides Koopman, the new progressive majority also includes Mayor Charles Meeker, District A newcomer Nancy McFarlane, District D veteran Thomas Crowder, and at-large veteran Russ Stephenson. The other council members are unchallenged incumbent James West in District C, District D veteran Philip Isley, and new at-large representative Mary-Ann Baldwin.